Repository navigation
Remotes
A remote is a copy of your repository on a server, such as GitHub. It is usually called origin. Fetch, pull and push keep your copy and the remote up to date with each other, and Nibtree shows how far apart they are.
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Upstream: the remote branch your local branch follows, for example
origin/mainformain. - Ahead: commits you made that are not on the server yet. Push sends them.
- Behind: commits on the server that you do not have yet. Pull brings them in.
- Fetch downloads what is new on the server without changing your files. Pull fetches and then merges (or rebases) into your branch. Push uploads your commits.
The ... menu of storefront with its Pull, Push submenu: Push shows 1 ahead.
There are three places, and each one says which repository it works on:
- The Git menu in the menu bar, for the active repository: Fetch, Fetch All Remotes, Pull... and Push... (which open dialogs with options), Update Project... (a dialog that pulls every repository), and Force Push.... When there is something to pull or push, the menu shows the count, such as Pull (2 behind)... or Push (1 ahead).... See Git Menu.
- The Sync button on each repository row in Changes: one click pulls, then pushes. See below.
- The ... menu of a repository row, under Pull, Push: Pull, Pull (Rebase), Push, Force Push, Fetch, Fetch (Prune) and Fetch From All Remotes. See Repository Actions.
The header has no Fetch, Pull, Push or Stash buttons: these live in the Git menu, next to everything else git can do.
What the fetch items do:
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Fetch downloads from the remote of your branch (usually
origin), like a plaingit fetch. - Fetch (Prune) does the same and removes remote branches that were deleted on the server.
- Fetch All Remotes (Fetch From All Remotes in the ... menu) fetches every remote and prunes.
Sync Changes is the quickest way to get up to date: it pulls what the server has, then pushes your commits, and tells you what happened, for example Pulled 2 commits and pushed 1. You find it on each repository row in Changes (with counts like 2 and a down arrow, 1 and an up arrow) and, when there is something to sync, as a wide button under the commit box. Its tooltip says exactly what it will do.
If the pull stops on conflicts, nothing is pushed and the Conflicts dialog opens. A branch without an upstream shows Publish Branch instead (see below).
A fetch in progress: the spinner and "Fetch..." in the header.
While an operation runs, a spinner and its name, such as Fetch..., appear on the right of the header. For the active repository, the name changes to git's own progress line as it arrives, for example "Receiving objects: 45%". The status bar shows the spinner too. Other git actions are greyed out until it is done, so you cannot start two at once.
When it finishes, a short note says, for example, Fetched all remotes, Pulled or Pushed. If it fails, the note says Push failed with git's message.
The same numbers appear in several places, with an up arrow for ahead and a down arrow for behind:
- The branch name in the header.
- The branch in the status bar.
- The Sync button of each repository in Changes, and Sync Changes under the commit box.
- Each local branch in the Branches sidebar and the Branches popup.
- The Git menu's Pull and Push items.
Behind counts are only as fresh as your last fetch. Fetch to update them.
Example: in the storefront repository you committed once and have not pushed. The header shows main with 1 and an up arrow, and so does the Sync button. Click Sync, and both go away.
The first time you push a branch that has no upstream yet, Nibtree pushes it to origin (or the first remote, if there is no origin) and sets it as the upstream. The Sync button shows Publish Branch (a cloud with an up arrow) for such a branch, and the ... menu adds Branch > Publish Branch. After that, Pull and Push just work for that branch.
Push needs a branch. If you checked out a commit or tag directly (a "detached HEAD"), you get Cannot push a detached HEAD: create a branch first. A repository without any remote says This repository has no remote to push to.
Sometimes you rewrote commits you already pushed, for example after a rebase or an amend. A normal push is then refused. To replace the server's copy:
- Choose Git > Force Push..., or ... > Pull, Push > Force Push on the repository row.
- Confirm Force Push in the dialog.
The Push dialog (Git > Push...) also has a force push option. See Git Dialogs.
Nibtree uses --force-with-lease, the safer kind of force push: it refuses if someone else pushed to the branch since your last fetch, so you do not throw away their work by accident.
A pull can stop on conflicts when you and someone else changed the same lines. A note says Pull stopped with conflicts, and Nibtree opens the Conflicts dialog so you can fix them. See Resolving Conflicts.
Whether a plain pull merges or rebases follows your git settings (for example pull.rebase), exactly like git pull in the Terminal. Pull (Rebase) always rebases, and the Pull dialog lets you choose each time.
Nibtree runs your own git, so it uses the same sign-in as a terminal: the macOS keychain or, on Windows, Git Credential Manager for HTTPS, or your SSH keys and agent. It never shows a password prompt. If a push or pull fails with an authentication error, see Troubleshooting.